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Alternative remembrance strategies: artists and archives
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Alternative remembrance strategies: artists and archives
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Content
Alternative Remembrance Strategies: Artists and Archives
By
Muna Ahmed
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSKI SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
May 2024
Table of Contents
List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………………….iii
Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………..iv
Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………….1
Chapter 1: The Artists and Their Commonality ……………………………………………….5
Chapter 2: Archives as Tools for Exclusion …………………………………………………...6
Chapter 3: Alternative Remembrance & Healing Strategies …………………………………15
Chapter 4: Connecting Past and Present ……………………………………………………...24
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………31
BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………………… 34
ii
List of Figures
Figure 1: Echoes of Promise: “I got as close as I could.” installation view, two channel video
by Muna Malik, 2021. Los Angeles, CA………………………………………………….7
Figure 2: Fragmentos: Espacio de Arte y Memoria, Detail view, Doris Salcedo, 2018. Bogata,
Columbia…………………………………………………………………………………10
Figure 3: An Index and Its Histories, Exhibition view, Gala Porras-Kim, 2017. Los Angeles,
CA………………………………………………………………………………………..12
Figure 4: Somalia Shillings Banknote, Exhibition View, Muna Malik, 2024. Los Angeles,
CA………………………………………………………………………………………..13
Figure 5: Disease Thrower, Installation View, Guadalupe Maravilla, 2019. Richmond,
Virginia…………………………………………………………………………………..16
Figure 6: A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, Installation View, Kara Walker, 2014. New
York, New York …………………………………………………………………………17
Figure 7: New Immigrant Portrait, Muna Malik, 2024. Los Angeles, CA …………………………18
Figure 8: In Two Canoe, Installation View, Wangechi Mutu, 2022, New York,
New York………………………………………………………………………………...20
Figure 9: Sirens Call, Exhibition View, Muna Malik, 2024. Los Angeles, CA…………………….21
Figure 10: Slaughter of the Innocents (They Might be Guilty of Something), Kara Walker, 2017.
New York, New York…………………………………………………………………….25
Figure 11: Installation view, Beatriz Cortez, 2018. Los Angeles, CA…………………………...27
Figure 12: An Ode - National Purgatory , Exhibition View, Muna Malik, 2024. Los Angeles,
CA…………………………………………………………………………………………………...29
iii
Abstract
In this paper, I am proposing innovative approaches for healing intergenerational trauma
stemming from colonialism, war, and displacement. I explore how artists have tackled feelings
of connection and disconnection, used archives as tools for healing, grappled with understanding
the past's interrelation to the present, and created new myths as placeholders for untold
narratives. Additionally, I examine how contemporary artists navigate these paradoxes through
alternative remembrance strategies in their art. My research focuses on diverse artists and group
exhibitions, delving into the dynamic interplay within historical archives. These archives
simultaneously construct and uphold a collective memory, often authored by the state rather than
individuals, while also silencing specific voices. The selected artists and their works have also
provided opportunities for me to analyze and critique my evolving body of work. By
interweaving factual and speculative elements, incorporating mythologies, and constructing new
histories, contemporary artists offer a transformative perspective that reconfigures prevailing
narratives.
iv
Introduction
In 2017, I stepped onto my ancestral soil in Somalia for the first and only time. Waves of
emotions, long dormant, overwhelmed me. Amidst this kaleidoscope of feelings, a sense of
belonging emerged, a reconnection to my roots. This sharply contrasted with my upbringing in
Yemen, where I often felt like an outsider, a black girl in an Arab milieu. Despite shared religion
and language, I was caught in a world where I was simultaneously present and absent. My
journey led me to Minneapolis, Minnesota, a place where the view from my new home echoed
this similar dissonance. This diasporic purgatory, a paradoxical existence, became a constant
companion on my life's path—a sentiment shared by many in diasporic communities.
My thesis exhibition is dedicated to exploring and illuminating these feelings of
connection/disconnection, referencing archives as tools for healing, understanding the past and
its relationship to the present, and developing new myths as a placeholder for lost stories. Last
year, I received a research grant to travel to eastern Kenya - as near as possible to the Somali
border. I wanted to explore how years of conflict, civil war, and displacement in the region were
translating to xenophobic tensions around migration, and to parallel how these relationships are
negotiated in the diaspora. Part of my travels to Kenya was about connecting with displaced
Somali communities, retracing the pathways of forced migrations and connections to land and
sea, while finding my way back home and to these histories on my own terms.
Against a backdrop of 30+ years of conflict, the region’s worst drought in 40 years, and
increasing displacement, my thesis body of work includes sculpture, painting, works on paper
and a film. Each piece in my show explores how one's identity can feel constantly in flux or
evolving as it is shaped and mapped across different nations, through multiple migrations, while
1
also being informed by the political tensions inherent in each space that prohibit migrant peoples
from ever fully being seen or understood.
Artists have been the instigators and creators of culture and discourse through the ages,
challenging long-established belief systems, propelling us into the future and while connecting
us to the past simultaneously. Art is what leads us to self-examine, to recognize our ancestry, our
society, and our spirituality. In today’s world where we are armed to the teeth with thousands of
years of human historical record unlike our ancestors in caves, contemporary artists maintain this
long-standing tradition by examining the intricate duality of archives as both historical index and
as instruments of exclusion.
4
Chapter 1: The Artists and Their Commonality
Firstly, it should be noted that much like myself, every artist discussed in this essay is
drawing upon their own traumas, family history, ancestry, and experiences to create their work. It
is from their lived experiences that drives their motivations and the content which they explore.
Due to this, they can utilize their art as a catalyst for healing, not only for themselves but for
audiences who may have had similar experiences. My goal is for my artwork and practice is to
provide space for people in the diaspora to feel seen and be given a space to reflect. For example,
Beatriz Cortez and Dolores Salcedo hail from El Salvador and Columbia respectively. Both use
their experiences of civil war as subject matter in their art and both of them, as I detail in this
paper, use remembrance techniques to create and heal through their work. Another El
Salvadorian born artist, Guadalupe Maravilla directly infuses his work with ancestral spiritual
healing rituals which are meant to give the audience an opportunity at healing as much as
himself. Artist Kara Walker challenges long-standing and often false narratives regarding
American institutionalized slavery, and thus provokes new inner monologues for both black and
white audiences. Lastly, artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen uses film and creating new narratives to
highlight and heal past traumas related to histories of conflict.
To summarize, it is crucial to identify the similarities amongst these artists in order to
fully comprehend the relevance of their work. Whether directly working with and challenging
archival processes, standing up to state bureaucracy, or researching ancient ancestral practices,
each of them - confronting conventional and sometimes false narratives through their work,
therefore cementing the artist's place as an innovator within our society because they reframe and
push people to see new ways of recuperating existing systems for historical knowledge.
5
Chapter 2: Archives as Tools for Exclusion
Archives–the historical record of a people, time, or place -exist in the form of written
documents, photographs, art history, audio, video, or archeological artifacts, are a main tool of
understanding the past. The maintenance of such documents is vital to grasping the historical
canon of a society, and our insight into the past is crucial to comprehending the present.
Due to the maintenance of archives living in the hands of an oppressive entity (often
institutions in power hold oppressive positions), such as the state or even a private institution,
can occasionally result in the exclusion of certain groups. By this I mean, who controls the
historical record harbors great power in societal remembrance and the historical narrative. Often,
archives can be used as a tool for exclusion. My piece "Echoes of Promise: I got as close as I
could" is an art installation and film that juxtaposes the vibrant past of Somalia in the 1970s with
the present-day reality of Kenya. It takes an oppressive lens from this archive and reframes it.
Working to create a poignant comparison between the two nations, the past and present, and
outsiders and kin. Through two parallel channels displayed side by side, visitors are invited to
embark on a reflective journey that explores the trajectories of these countries, one's relationship
to land and water, and the relationship between memory and time.
One channel of the video installation is set against the backdrop of Somalia in the 1970s,
capturing the flourishing spirit of the country during a period of economic prosperity, cultural
richness, and social cohesion. The film vividly portrays bustling industry, natural landscapes, and
vibrant communities coming together in the streets. The other channel is set in present-day
Kenya, similarly highlighting modern-day industry and captivating landscapes. At times, the two
channels mirror one another, making them almost indistinguishable.
6
This juxtaposition of past prosperity and present realities serves as a poignant reminder of
the fragility of progress, urging us to reconsider the true nature of progress and change. Excerpts
from a poem by Somali poet Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac, titled "Gaarriye," underscore the film,
prompting viewers to reflect on their own relationship to time, land, and identity. At the midpoint
of the video installation, the viewer is confronted with a slight shift in perspective as clips from
the archival film begin to play backwards. This shift may be missed or feel jarring to the viewer,
as it encourages a deeper examination.
Figure 1: Echoes of Promise: “I got as close as I could.” installation view, two channel
video by Muna Malik, 2021. Los Angeles, CA.
7
Let us examine a case in Colombia having to do with a memorial dedicated to the
remembrance of the peace treaties of the Colombian Civil War. The Museo Nacional de
Colombia (National Museum of Colombia) in Bogotá is an extension of the Colombian Ministry
of Culture, and sector of the state. In 2018, artist Doris Salcedo was approached by President
Santo’s ministry of culture to create a monument in dedication to the peace treaty. At first, she
refused on the basis of being “deeply skeptical of government sponsored monuments…”1
.
Eventually having a change of heart out of a motivation to “prevent others to build what she
feared would be a traditional figurative and monumental eyesore,”2 Salcedo was faced with
endless bureaucratic resistance from the government, the army, the police, and former FARC
(Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) leadership in order to gain the surrendered guerilla
weapons to create the floor of the monument.
When she first approached FARC leader and peace treaty negotiator Iván Márquez about
melting down the weapons she was met with great resistance from him due to his belief that
“people walking on the floor made up of melted weapons’ steel was humiliating the guerilla”3
.
This resistance to her idea was given with the knowledge that Salcedo planned to employ a
collective of women who had been victimized of sexual violence during the civil war, crimes
which Márquez “well knew, had been quite common among the guerrilla themselves.”4
This example demonstrates the causes and effects of historical materials being controlled
by certain political or state groups. Because the FARC leadership viewed Salcedo’s idea
personally offended due to their own biases and personal memories regarding their cause - they
harbored the weapons from her. This presented her with a major roadblock in realizing the price,
4
(Huyssen 2021)
3
(Huyssen 2021)
2
(Huyssen 2021)
1
"A Space of Art and Memory | ReVista," ReVista 2021, , Andreas Huyssen,
https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/a-space-of-art-and-memory/.
8
it also silenced her by excluding the female survivors of sexual violence from officially being a
part of the historical record. After all, Salcedo’s monument, as all monuments dedicated to
political conflicts do, became a part of the historical record once completed, a new archive in and
of itself.
The FARC was not the only entity which exhibited resistance to her idea of melting down
the weapons, as “the army was reluctant to help, sending her on a wild goose chase to various
foundries across the country, though they knew they had the only facility powerful enough to do
the job. Eventually the military relented when they were ordered by President Santos to
cooperate.”5 Even after she had finally acquired the weapons and recruited twenty women from
the organization Victimas and Profesionales, her wish to include twenty guerilla female fighters
who had also experienced sexual abuse was shot down as “they were forbidden by their
commanders to participate.”6 Showing a deliberate exclusion of their experience and history
from the historical record, regardless of whether the reason for this command was to
intentionally silence their sexual abuse stories or not, the result remains the same.
6
(Huyssen 2021)
5
(Huyssen 2021)
9
Figure 2: Fragmentos: Espacio de Arte y Memoria, Detail view, Doris Salcedo, 2018.
Bogata, Columbia
In the end however, Salcedo’s relentless efforts to create her “counter- memorial”, did in
fact enforce a kind of unity among these former enemies, further closing the gap of division and
inching closer to unity, even if just for a single project. As stated by Huyssen, the project
“involved politicians, the army and the police, guerilla leaders and victims of sexual violence at a
tenuous historical moment when lasting peace and reconciliation seemed to be on the horizon
just before the new conservative government reignited the armed conflict.”7
Other artists across the globe are faced with their own unique set of challenges when it
comes to creating art based on archives or the commonly understood historical narrative. Gala
Porras-Kim, another Colombian artist, takes on a different aspect of the archival system in her
7
(Huyssen 2021)
10
work, that being the actual methodologies of archival cataloging in the western world. Artists not
only challenge the conventions and desires of the state when faced with numerous political and
bureaucratic challenges, but also the established methodologies of private museums and their
longstanding archival processes. Porras-Kim “creates art that explores the relationship between
historical objects and the institutions that display them. From writing letters questioning how
museums handle artifacts to creating sculptures that honor the spiritual lives of antiquities…” 8
It is the contemporary artist who can recognize the original intention of an antique
artifact, as the archive does not always consider the spiritual or ritualistic intention it was created
for since archives are simply a mode of cataloging. Porras-Kim’s art focuses on challenging
these methodologies and the resulting narratives which come from them through sculpture,
drawing, photography, and collage. Her 2018 exhibition An Index and Its Histories “focused on
the Proctor Stafford Collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art… Porras-Kim’s
gestalt of semi-pseudo ceramic artifacts and Serafini-esque drawings speculate on the potential
histories and narratives of the shards and pottery fragments, reintroducing them in contemporary
modes of representation.”9
9 Whitney Jones, "Exhibition | Gala Porras-Kim's Speculative Histories + Archival Investigations," CFile, May 1, 2018,
https://cfileonline.org/exhibition-gala-porras-kim-speculative-histories-archival-investigations/.
8
Jim Cuno, "PODCAST: Gala Porras-Kim Makes Art of Interrogation," Getty, Podcast, 2022,
https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/podcast-gala-porras-kim-makes-art-of-interrogation/.
11
Figure 3: An Index and Its Histories, Exhibition view, Gala Porras-Kim, 2017. Los Angeles, CA
By creating new objects heavily inspired by the objects of antiquity in the Proctor
Stafford catalog, Porras-Kim reintroduces the originals to a new audience in a reimagined but
semi-faithful mode, challenging the conventions of the catalog by instilling a spiritual and
ancestral aspect to them. This process of art extends the context of the new objects and the old
ones, as the new creations at the hands of Porras-Kim take the purposes and uses of the old ones
and reintroduce them through a modern transformative lens. Thus, the public is further educated
not only in the uses of the objects of the past but can also become better connected and educated
about the society which originally made them while often using humor as a tool for
understanding.
12
This informed my process around turning devalued currency into valuable art objects. My
thesis show highlights four enlarged archival prints of Somali Shillings, currency that hold no
physical value today. By enlarging this valueless currency it sheds light on the images they hold
and what those images stand for. Money, as the devalued currency, serves as a framework for the
images that define a nation. In the case of these Somali Shillings, these bills highlight boats,
artisans, nature, and a female revolutionary, these are the images that become iconographic. But
what exactly compels these specific images to carry such weight in defining a nation's identity?
They must be deeply tied to who we are as they stand to represent the nation abroad. For me,
enlarging these devalued images works as a way to magnify their importance, working against
their devaluation and creating a new cultural archive that holds these images in a new light.
Figure 4: Somalia Shillings Banknote, Exhibition View, Muna Malik, 2024. Los Angeles, CA
Another artist who utilizes similar archival strategies is Tuan Andrew Nguyen. His 2023
exhibition, Radiant Remembrance “utilizes strategies of remembrance to highlight unofficial and
10suppressed histories. Interweaving the factual and the speculative and often employing
10
13
mythologies of otherworldly realms,.”11 Nguyen's film pieces reimagine historical moments,
offering personal or intricate narratives that suggest new ways to address intergenerational
traumas caused by colonialism, war, and displacement. He meticulously sifts through extensive
archival material to craft his work, a practice shared by many contemporary artists who seek to
reshape narratives. This process is closely tied with my piece Echoes of Promise. By crafting a
film that highlights the cyclical nature of life, "Echoes of Promise" underscores how time shapes
our perceptions of the past and present, offering an alternative view of temporality. The past and
present in this piece often blend, becoming indistinguishable in an effort to confuse or disrupt the
viewer prompting a closer more focused viewing.
11 Roberta Smith, “In the Art of Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Vietnam's Nightmares Live On,” The New York Times, August
16, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/arts/design/tuan-andrew-nguyen-new-museum-vietnam.html.
14
Chapter 3: Alternative Remembrance & Healing Strategies
Now that we have examined the ways in which archives can be a tool for exclusion and
how contemporary artists challenge state bureaucracy and exclusion, as well as the western
archival system, we will look at the ways in which other contemporary artists infuse their work
with spiritual healing techniques and practices. El Salvadorian born artist Guadalupe Maravilla,
fled the civil war as a child and lived for many years as an undocumented person in the United
States. His art explores his immigrant experience in the U.S. as well as his battle with cancer, and
it is infused with the various spiritual and ritualistic healing techniques Maravilla used
throughout his illness and journey of healing his generational trauma.
His work is also infused with the animistic beliefs of his ancestors and Native Americans,
a belief system which ties into the mode of healing generational traumas and celebrating
ancestral stories and traditions. In an interview with BOMB Magazine, Maravilla stated that “My
ancestors and many Native American cultures believe in animism—rivers have energy; the rock,
the tree, and the little birds have energy. And a plastic chair or a ’90s Bart Simpson shirt have
energy just like the toad on the pond.”12 The interweaving of an ancestral belief into his work
offers the viewer a more personal lens in which to view the past traditions of a society, as
opposed to the systemic and impersonal approach of the archival method. Maravilla’s art in a
sense personalizes the past as he interweaves his own family’s mythologies within his work
inspired by his ancestry.
12 Katy Martin, "Guadalupe Maravilla by Janine Antoni," BOMB Magazine, January 5, 2021,
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/guadalupe-maravilla/.
15
Figure 5: Disease Thrower, Installation View, Guadalupe Maravilla, 2019. Richmond, Virginia
For example, “His traumatic experiences as a refugee and formerly undocumented person
inform the creation of his immersive sculptural installations and the participatory rituals he hosts
offer tools for self-healing to the immigrant community and beyond.”13 Although Maravilla
doesn’t source his inspiration directly from historical archives, his ancestral material passed
down to him from his relatives allows him to create artwork that subverts the formal archival
process in the same way that Porras-Kim’s work does. Both artists’ works are subsequently
infused with an authenticity and mythology like those artifacts of their ancestors.
Other artists have utilized similar methodologies in their work, such as Kara Walker.
Walker’s work typically conveys scenes from the Antebellum South which subvert the
audiences’ conventional notions regarding the history of slavery and the Civil War. Her work
tends to caricature slavery in the antebellum South and demonstrates how it was negative for
both black and white. Her 2014 exhibition A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby is one of the
most obvious examples of this subversion. The focal point of the exhibition is a massive
13 (Martin 2021)
16
sculpture of a black woman constructed entirely of sugar. The depiction of an Aunt Jemima
character in the model of an Egyptian sphinx is an empowering revisionist action taken by the
artist to reimagine a traditionally stereotyped or caricatured depiction of a black woman and
transform her into something of royalty and divinity. An act of subversion and taking back the
narrative.
Figure 6: A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, Installation View, Kara Walker, 2014. New
York, New York
Subversion in this sense becomes an act of recuperation and strategy for empowerment. I
use a similar framework for my piece called New Immigrant Portrait where I took a flag and I
encased it in concrete to the point of being unrecognizable. Flags are often associated with
governmental structures of power, often oppressive, my goal was to strip it to its tribal and
associative power. Create a weighted structure that feels closer to the feeling flags give those
who have been forced to flee due to conflict. Give the flag a second skin, filled with scarring and
cracks.
17
Figure 7: New Immigrant Portrait, Muna Malik, 2024. Los Angeles, CA
Walker is most well known for her work in silhouettes which examine the same subject as
the sugar sculpture. As examined by New York Times reporter Roberta Smith in 2014, “This is
par for the course with Ms. Walker, who is best known for wall installations in which cavorting
black paper silhouettes depict the often sexualized, variously depraved yet comedic interactions
of discernibly white slaveholders and black slaves in the antebellum South. Combining reality
18
and metaphor with a great gift for caricature, these works demonstrate unequivocally that
America’s “peculiar institution” was degrading for all concerned.”14
The American Civil War is arguably the most controversial and fraught topic in American
History, with Northerners and Southerners and Americans across the country having been raised
on conflicting historical narratives. For example, some Southerners have been raised with the
notion (indeed propaganda from the start of the war) that it was the “war of northern aggression”
and that the Confederates were fighting for the noble cause of defending states’ rights. This
notion of defending state rights was an obvious symptom of a lack of understanding of the evil
realities of institutionalized slavery. Southerners fighting to defend the “states’ rights” to literally
own people are an obvious example of the moral decay that existed in that of the slave owners.
Therefore, Walker’s art challenges the unfortunate ideas and beliefs about American slavery that
have been passed down for generations. Her work shows us that caricature can be a powerful
tool in curating revisionist history and reappropriating negative stereotypes regarding a particular
group, especially when that group has been negatively stereotyped in popular culture throughout
American history by the descendants of some of the white Americans of the slave owners.
A clear element of mythology is embedded in the work as well, with references to
Egyptian monuments, with Egypt also being home to one of the most powerful and oldest
ancient civilizations in the world. Walker, as we have seen, is not the only artist to weave
mythmaking into her contemporary works of art. Artist Wangechi Mutu also explores the historic
exploitation of black women in her work and weaves spiritual and mythic elements into her work
and depictions of black women, effectively recentering the narrative.
14 Smith, Roberta. "'A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby' at the Domino Plant." The New York Times, May 11,
2014.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/arts/design/a-subtlety-or-the-marvelous-sugar-baby-at-the-domino-plant.h
tml.
19
“Her collages, sculptures and videos examine the exploitation, resilience and grandeur of
Black women, as social, spiritual and mythic beings. “Seeing Cowries” (2020) is a tarry
pyramidal form, studded with cowrie shells, which once served as currency and tools of
divination. The shifting associations of this strange but appealing entity include a Voodoo
priestess in flowing robes, a meditating Buddha or Madonna and Child sitting on the ground
(note the bare foot). Yet it can also look like an ugly deep-sea fish, greedy for light.”15 By
creating imagery adjacent to divinity and myth, viewers absorb these narratives and develop new
perspectives which may challenge- prior misunderstandings they may have held. The
interweaving of various religious entities and symbols is a powerful tool for enforcing changes in
perspectives. This notion is even evident within the very headline of the New York Times article,
‘An Imagined World Made Possible.”
Figure 8: In Two Canoe, Installation View, Wangechi Mutu, 2022, New York, New York
15 Roberta Smith, "Wangechi Mutu: An Imagined World Made Possible," The New York Times, March 2, 2023,
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/arts/design/wangechi-mutu-new-museum.html.
20
Central to my thesis show is the recurring motif of boats and masks. Boats, beyond their
physical manifestation, symbolize migration and resilience, while masks act as metaphysical
shields against the uncertainties of social interaction. They become tangible embodiments of
identity amidst ambiguity, facilitating a nuanced exploration of personal and collective
narratives. Boats, in this context, serve as more than mere vessels; they act as a gateway to
deeper exploration of conflict, identity, and coastal traditions. Just as the bottom of a boat shields
it from the unpredictable depths of the sea, masks offer a shield against the unknown elements of
social interaction. The masks in the piece Sirens Call are inspired by the underside of boats.
They’re meant to evoke what happens when you put a face to what's held underneath. They
become the face of the unknown, offering a tangible identity amidst uncertainty. When we wear
masks, we are not just protecting ourselves physically; we are giving a visible form to our
otherwise hidden expressions.
21
Figure 9: Sirens Call, Exhibition View, Muna Malik, 2024. Los Angeles, CA
While inspired by African mask traditions, these masks exist within a mythological
realm. This invented mythology, akin to the principles of Afrofuturism—a cultural movement
blending art, science fiction, and politics to envision a world where the African diaspora
experiences freedom from oppression—enables the masks to inhabit a conceptual space
emphasizing diverse perspectives. The multiple sets of eyes symbolize the varied viewpoints of
exploration, representing the unique perspectives of each nation or place one is linked to. Though
inspired by Afro-futurism, one key difference in the use of these masks is setting them in a
liminal space that doesn’t center or relate to external forces or systems of oppression. This work
is produced and inspired by similar thoughts to Camille DeBose and her article Black Futurity
and the Sublime where she states, “As I continue to employ the Sublime to unmake and remake
my notions of self, I hope to produce visual work that does not present its subjects in
conceptually subjugated ways. My work is not meant to defy expectation, but simply disregard
expectation altogether. There is no conflict here because there is no context. 16The work is not
produced as a counter-narrative even though that is what it will ultimately become.”17 They live
in a space more akin to the lesser known concept of Afro-Sublime, an aesthetic or cultural
concept that combines elements of the African diaspora with the sublime, a concept often
associated with awe-inspiring beauty or grandeur.
In a sense, my masks and contemporary artists are constructing modern myths, a practice
which is also in the style of their ancestors. They are functioning in a similar way to traditional
historians in constructing revisionist histories. While revisionist history in the past has come
under intense scrutiny from academics due to its influences on conspiracy theories such as
17 DeBose, Camille. "Black Futurity and the Sublime." roots§routes, 2018.
https://www.roots-routes.org/black-futurity-and-the-sublime-by-camille-debose/.
16 Roberta Smith, "Wangechi Mutu
22
Holocaust denialism, revisionist history is simultaneously a useful and necessary tool in
reclaiming and reestablishing historical narratives to address multiple perspectives in history.
23
Chapter 4: Connecting Past and Present
The works of these artists also help us as the viewer to connect our present to our past.
Vogue writes of Kara Walker’s 2017 works that “directly in the aftermath of the violence in
Charlottesville over the removal of monuments that sentimentalize our most shameful history,
Walker has made the connection between past and present feel all the more urgent.”18
To understand the world around us as it is, it is vital that we make earnest attempts to
fully understand the past and learn history. Artists like Walker encourage viewers to question
learned and conventional narratives about our history, which is crucial when it comes to
understanding a fraught topic like that of American institutionalized slavery. This is especially
prevalent in this topic because race relations are still fraught and contentious within the United
States today. The fight for equality did not end after the Civil War and the emancipation of
former slaves, rather it became a century’s long fight for justice and freedom, as seen through the
Civil Rights movement almost a hundred years later.
18 Julia Felsenthal, "Kara Walker's New Show Was a Sensation Before It Even Opened," Vogue, September 8, 2017,
https://www.vogue.com/article/kara-walker-sikkema-jenkins.
24
Figure 10: Slaughter of the Innocents (They Might be Guilty of Something), Kara Walker, 2017.
New York, New York
The imagery and medium which Walker uses also forces the viewer to look beyond the
years of slavery and examine the racism and injustices the black community experienced in the
years post-slavery as well. The silhouettes recall minstrel shows and silent films of the twenties
and thirties, decades where lynching and racial violence was rampant alongside these stereotyped
representations of black people. Felsenthal writes, “This is a swirling cyclone of freighted
symbols that mashes up every era of American life and reminds us that the scourge of racism
infects all it touches, the oppressor as well as the oppressed, the future as well as the past (not to
mention the present).”19
19 (Felsenthal 2017)
25
Not only does contemporary art such as Walker’s force the viewer to examine the past but
it also forces us to expand our understandings about how historical events affected not only the
oppressed or the victims but how it benefited as well as negatively affected the perpetrators. In
America, the institution of slavery was also a form of spiritual and moral degradation upon the
slave holders, a notion eloquently demonstrated through Walker’s silhouettes. Thus, while one
wouldn’t recognize them as victims in any regard, one can begin to ponder how racism was
corrosive not only within our institutions but within the individuals and in families. A moral
corrosion which was sometimes passed down from generation to generation, thus carrying on the
legacy of racism and slavery in America.
As Felsenthal states, “The artist’s silhouette technique reduces visual information to the
bare minimum, and collapses space into a flat plane, a single dimension. Her newer work,
frenetically busy though still cartoonish, does something similar by collapsing time. The past
haunts the present, and the present calls back to the past. The two are in frenzied conversation.”20
My film Echoes of Promise also works to collapse time. It fixates on the paradox of holding two
seemingly contradictory truths simultaneously, a dance between the figurative and the
metaphorical. Examining both ancestral heritage and history as well as archival documents is a
useful method in connecting the past to the present. This also further illuminates the complexity
of the archive. The way in which they can be used to shine a spotlight on lost or overlooked
traditions and cultures, while simultaneously mucking the waters of historical index depending
on the purveyor of the archive.
El Salvadorian artist Beatriz Cortez creates works of art which have a distinct focus on
the immigrant experience in America. In a PBS write up from 2015, “As an immigrant artist,
Cortez says that living in Arizona taught her about how difficult it is for immigrants to negotiate
20 (Felsenthal 2017)
26
daily life in an environment often hostile to outsiders.”21 She also mused that “It is really
interesting to find the connection between my life as an immigrant and my past as a person who
grew up in a war, and my ideas about the future, all connected to the philosophy that I read.”22
In her 2018 exhibition Tzolk’in (or Piercing Garden), Beatriz Cortes experiments with
similar themes of the continuity and connectivity of time. In an interview from 2018 she states
“Tzolk’in is also based on the 260-day agricultural calendar created by the ancient Maya, and on
hypocycloidal motion, which is at once circular and linear. It is about the very different
experiences that people in this city have, some of them protected by institutional space, some of
them pretty much surviving on their own. It is about families that are divided by borders, and
their efforts to establish real and imaginary communication systems sustained by love.”23
Figure 11: Installation view, Beatriz Cortez, 2018. Los Angeles, CA
23 Rafa Esparza, "Simultaneities: Beatriz Cortez by Rafa Esparza," BOMB Magazine, August 9, 2018,
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2018/08/09/simultaneities-beatriz-cortez-interviewed/.
22 (Gutiérrez 2017)
21 Raquel Gutiérrez, "Cosmic Fractures: Beatriz Cortez's Simultaneous Realities | Artbound | Arts & Culture," PBS
SoCal, 2017, https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/artbound/cosmic-fractures-beatriz-cortezs-simultaneous-realities.
27
Rooted in an ancient Mayan tradition, Cortes’s art demonstrates the same attempt at
connectivity and examination as Kara Walker, and the other artists mentioned previously.
Cortes’s intent with the exhibition was to educate and connect. She explains in the interview with
BOMB Magazine that she “felt it would be important to make art about my own experience as a
Salvadoran immigrant living in Los Angeles, but abstracted and open so that people from all
over the world can relate to the work.”24
Therefore, not only are other immigrants able to relate to and find value within Cortez’s
art, so too are individuals with vastly different lived experiences. Even if one could not relate to a
specific element of the message, it is certainly a lens to learn about and better understand the
experiences of others. Art in any form and medium is the most useful in accomplishing this.
Much like Cortes, my piece called An Ode - National Purgatory serves as a melancholic ode to
Somalia, a nation weathered by trials yet anchored by an unwavering hope25
. This sculpture - a
boat, its once-vibrant hull, weathered by the elements, now bears the intricate scars of erosion
and neglect. It’s encased in weighted concrete. It's net serving as a failed sail. Offering a
multi-dimensional perspective on the complexities of identity against the backdrop of conflict,
severe drought, increased displacement, and the broader socio-political landscape of migration.
This piece is meant to spark a connection between all members of the diaspora. A representation
of feeling disconnected and weighed down by a fleeting relationship to land that all immigrants
often feel. The mask in the hull of the boat is a representation of the individual.
25 (Gutiérrez 2017)
24 (Esparza 2018) "Simultaneities: Beatriz Cortez by Rafa Esparza," BOMB Magazine, August 9, 2018,
28
Figure 12: An Ode - National Purgatory , Exhibition View, Muna Malik, 2024. Los Angeles, CA
Artistic expression is the only vessel with which an individual can shape shift. In other
words, it is the only way in which we as individuals can truly be placed into the shoes of our
fellow humans and closely experience the lives of others and ultimately create empathy26
. It is
our best tool for understanding one another in the present, which is crucial to the success of our
species in the future. It is also another way in which one can learn about ancestors and different
cultures that pre-existed us, perhaps more so than the conventional archives and historical
26 Rafa Esparza, "Simultaneities: Beatriz Cortez by Rafa Esparza," BOMB Magazine, August 9, 2018,
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2018/08/09/simultaneities-beatriz-cortez-interviewed/.
29
practices young academics are encouraged to explore, as opposed to the art created by
contemporary artists.
30
Conclusion
Contemporary artists utilize a variety of techniques to challenge conventional archival
practices and narratives. First, the artists featured in this paper are connected by their common
thread of utilizing ancestry, lived experience, and motivations to heal through their artwork.
Their efforts challenge conventional narratives regardless of if they examine archives or not. The
sheer act of creating art which challenges conventional historical narratives is an act of defiance
of colonized record keeping and offensive historical narratives.
Second, archives can be used as tools for exclusion, as seen with the interactive memorial
dedicated to the Colombian Civil War, designed by Colombian artist Doris Salcedo. Salcedo was
faced with numerous challenges during the design process of the memorial, specifically from
different bureaucratic organizations, including the state. This is a quintessential example of the
ways in which archives and historical narratives are at the mercy of various hands who wish to
dominate the overarching story of a history and people. In other words, it is an example of the
ways in which archives can be colonized by an oppressor group. Specifically, the efforts of the
state as well as the rebel group aimed to erase and silence the female victims of sexual violence
during the civil war, as many of them were assaulted by the men of the rebel group and the
military.
Similarly, Gala Porras-Kim explicitly uses museum archives as a basis for her work. She
directly infuses archeological archival artifacts related to her ancestry with known ancestral
stories and practices, redefining the established description attributed to them from the institution
where they are housed. Essentially, this is another example of an effort to decolonize the
archives. Third, artists such as Guadalupe Maravilla who demonstrates spiritual healing
techniques in his work. It is a method inspired by his ancestral practices with an intent to heal
31
both his generational trauma as well as any trauma and spiritual pain the viewer may suffer from.
Inspired by his immigrant experience as well as his battle with cancer, Maravilla’s work attempts
to not only heal the soul but the body as well. Artists Kara Walker and Wangechi Mutu also
integrate spirituality in their work in addition to mythology, each of them effectively creating
modern myth in the same way as their ancestors did through their art.
Fourth, contemporary artists create a dialogue between our past and present. Kara
Walker’s work focusing on American slavery and racism encapsulates both the artist's ability to
encourage discussion, self-reflection, and critical thinking, while also exemplifying the ways in
which our present is still determined by our past histories. Her work also shows audiences how
we can overcome a brutal past, thus creating a unique dialogue between past and present. Lastly,
Beatriz Cortez is yet another artist whose work defines these movements of healing, history, and
ancestry. Her work catalogs both her experiences as an immigrant and as a survivor of civil war.
She also draws upon ancient Mayan traditions to demonstrate an attempt at human connectivity
for people who share similar experiences to her and those who do not.
In conclusion, my thesis exhibition Diasporic Purgatory illuminates the complex journey
of diasporic identities seeking belonging and is heavily inspired by the ways in which the artists
in this paper examine and conceptualize their work. My thesis portrays a liminal existence,
balancing between homeland and new homes, and drawing connections between cultural
symbols across time. This exhibition has delved into the profound desire for freedom and
grounding amidst the challenges of land, nationhood, migration, and displacement and uses
existing archives as a method for telling new narratives. Through diverse mediums such as
sculpture, painting, works on paper, and film, it highlights how those in diasporic communities
navigate the paradox of being caught between worlds. From masks loosely inspired by
32
Afro-Futurism to sculptures reflecting East African seafaring traditions, and a reevaluation of
valueless currency, this exhibition has showcased a rich tapestry of narratives. Diasporic
Purgatory reclaims cultural symbols of the past and present while forging new mythologies to
anchor evolving identities in this transitory space.
Artists have always and will continue to challenge the status quo of varying ingrained
narratives in our societies and will likely continue to do so. As we have seen, some contemporary
artists challenge the methodologies of archival record-keeping and historical narratives, thus
exposing the way in which some of the narratives have been colonized. It is through their
personal efforts of healing that societies may heal too. With this in mind, I strive to continue to
create work that provides a space for healing and reflection.
33
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cuno, Jim. 2022. “PODCAST: Gala Porras-Kim Makes Art of Interrogation.” Getty. Podcast.
https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/podcast-gala-porras-kim-makes-art-of-interrogation/.
DeBose, Camille. 2018. “Black Futurity and the Sublime. by Camille DeBose.” roots§routes,
2018. https://www.roots-routes.org/black-futurity-and-the-sublime-by-camille-debose/.
Esparza, Rafa. 2018. “Simultaneities: Beatriz Cortez by Rafa Esparza.” BOMB Magazine,
August 9, 2018.
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2018/08/09/simultaneities-beatriz-cortez-interviewed/.
Felsenthal, Julia. 2017. “Kara Walker's New Show Was a Sensation Before It Even Opened.”
Vogue, September 8, 2017. https://www.vogue.com/article/kara-walker-sikkema-jenkins.
Gutiérrez, Raquel. 2017. “Cosmic Fractures: Beatriz Cortez's Simultaneous Realities | Artbound |
Arts & Culture.” PBS SoCal, 2017.
https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/artbound/cosmic-fractures-beatriz-cortezs-simultaneousrealities.
Huyssen, Andreas. 2021. “A Space of Art and Memory | ReVista.” ReVista |, August 27, 2021.
https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/a-space-of-art-and-memory/.
Jones, Whitney. 2018. “Exhibition | Gala Porras-Kim's Speculative Histories + Archival
Investigations.” CFile, May 1, 2018.
https://cfileonline.org/exhibition-gala-porras-kim-speculative-histories-archival-investigat
ions/.
Martin, Katy. 2021. “Guadalupe Maravilla by Janine Antoni.” BOMB Magazine, January 5,
2021. https://bombmagazine.org/articles/guadalupe-maravilla/.
Smith, Roberta. 2014. “‘A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby’ at the Domino Plant.” The
New York Times, May 11, 2014.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/arts/design/a-subtlety-or-the-marvelous-sugar-baby
-at-the-domino-plant.html.
Smith, Roberta. 2023. “Wangechi Mutu: An Imagined World Made Possible.” The New York
Times, March 2, 2023.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/arts/design/wangechi-mutu-new-museum.html.
Smith, Roberta. 2023. “In the Art of Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Vietnam's Nightmares Live On.” The
New York Times, August 16, 2023.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/arts/design/tuan-andrew-nguyen-new-museum-viet
nam.html.
34
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
In this paper, I am proposing innovative approaches for healing intergenerational trauma stemming from colonialism, war, and displacement. I explore how artists have tackled feelings of connection and disconnection, used archives as tools for healing, grappled with understanding the past's interrelation to the present, and created new myths as placeholders for untold narratives. Additionally, I examine how contemporary artists navigate these paradoxes through alternative remembrance strategies in their art. My research focuses on diverse artists and group exhibitions, delving into the dynamic interplay within historical archives. These archives simultaneously construct and uphold a collective memory, often authored by the state rather than individuals, while also silencing specific voices. The selected artists and their works have also provided opportunities for me to analyze and critique my evolving body of work. By interweaving factual and speculative elements, incorporating mythologies, and constructing new histories, contemporary artists offer a transformative perspective that reconfigures prevailing narratives.
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Ahmed, Muna
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Alternative remembrance strategies: artists and archives
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2024-05
Publication Date
04/09/2024
Defense Date
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